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There’s a major shift in the Bromford Strategy that upends our legacy business model: our move to place-based working by 2027.
But how do you shift to a completely new model within the constraints of a 60 year-old organisation?
First of all: What exactly is place-based working?
Place-based working is a person-centred, bottom-up approach used to meet the unique needs of people in one given location by working together to use the best available resources.
By working collaboratively with the people who live and work locally, it aims to build a picture of the system from a local perspective, that seeks to highlight the strengths, capacity and knowledge of all those involved
We’ve just launched the first of our four place discovery phases, in Staple Hill, South Gloucestershire, and three more will follow in the coming months before the model gets applied across the organisation.
The initial hypothesis we are testing is something like this: Does connecting the people who already work in a place together and removing them from management silos lead to better outcomes for customers and colleagues?
Accordingly we’ve brought together our Neighbourhood Coaches, our engineers, our landscapers, our caretaking team – and given them a blank sheet of paper to start from. How would they work if it was Day One?
Some of the lessons learned so far in putting the first test together:
Stop obsessing about technology – most of our problems can be solved by just connecting people and getting them to talk to each other. An obsession with tech as a solution has created a division not a connected community
Ditch the hierarchy (or at least get them away from the real work) – we massively underestimate the corporate treacle and inefficiency tax placed on colleagues and communities by too much management and well meant interference
Your organisation isn’t best placed to solve every problem – real people given the right access to power and resources could do a better job than anything in your corporate plan
Just listen and respond – it’s not a lot to ask. But most of us aren’t doing it if we’re really really honest. Not being listened to creates distrust, and we know where that distrust leads.
And it also means moving away from the top down.
In ‘the organization as a machine’ model managers utilise top-down behaviour to provide direction and ensure everyone understands the shared objectives. This approach centralises decision-making, supposedly allowing for quick action and efficient communication throughout the organization.
It also allows managers to maintain control, ensuring consistency and leveraging their ‘expertise’.
Place based working demands the literal opposite of that model.
It’s not a machine, it’s organic.
And it works bottom up, freeing you to be as creative as the place and the people demand, albeit within agreed strategic parameters.
The premise is simple: bring small co-located teams together and give them the freedom to experiment at arms length from the legacy business.
One of the immediate challenges we faced was keeping managers away from setting the direction of the team. That must come from the team itself.
To get people on board with this, we’ve set some broad desired objectives that are more like lines of enquiry.
This is important – as it’s the only top down interference we’ve allowed. Other than a steering group comprised of leaders – there was no direct link between the management and the development of the emerging team.
That’s because to establish a self-directed team you must foster autonomy and trust.
You must empower team members, encourage transparency, and create a safe environment for open communication
You must cultivate a shared vision through collaborative goal setting and ownership of outcomes.
You must lead by example, facilitating rather than dictating, and offering support and guidance.
That said organisational support, with a gradual transition, and open communication with management are crucial.
So, far though it’s working as planned.
Our proposal for the first phase pilot was discussed with residents before management.
It was then shared with senior management and borard not for approval, but just for information.
Moving to a place based model upends business as usual.